Skiing is just the beginning: getting extracurricular on holiday in Norway

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The route down looks gnarly, narrow and snaking between trees, with lumps, bumps and a few rocks too. Hesitantly I push off, then slide fast and messily down the track before ricocheting on to a wide piste, landing on my bum and getting a face full of snow. Then scramble, embarrassed, to my feet, before hauling my sledge off for another run.

This is a ski trip Norway-style, and it wouldn’t be complete without a stack of extra-curricular activities.

Oslo’s 2km Korketrekkeren (meaning corkscrew) sledge run starts out of town near a tube stop, and the tube also brings us back to the start from the end of the run. The hardcore off piste where I wiped out is merely an optional short stretch from the station to the beginning of the 10-minute thrill ride, which comes complete with berms, bumps and a stunning view of the twinkling lights and glittering water of the streets and fjords of Oslo. But since I’m lying back as flat as I can to go faster, and occasionally spraying myself with snow while braking with feet or hands, I miss much of that.

But there are plenty of other chances. Oslo Vinterpark, the city’s ski area, is 20 minutes from the centre by tube and open until 10pm most days.

It’s dark by the time we get there at 4.30pm. Riding the chairlifts or speeding down one of the tree-lined runs under enough floodlights to almost make me believe it’s daylight, is exhilarating, and accompanied by those same twinkling city lights, glimpsed through atmospheric drifting fog. The resort is bustling with life – including in the Godt Brød café where we stop for hot chocolate that’s made with Belgian chocolate pellets and properly hot milk – a world away from the machine-made lukewarm stuff in most ski resorts. It’s accompanied by traditional Norwegian snacks – muesli bread with thin slices of creamy brown, deliciously sweet caramelised goat’s cheese, cinnamon whirls and bøller yeast buns, slightly sweet and flavoured with cardamom. Locals also pick up their breakfast bread here, as this is a full on working organic bakery, not just a café.

There are only 10km of pistes here, but still plenty to entertain. The longest run is a black with genuinely steep pitches that leads down to Godt Brød and a new six-seater chair; reds in the same area lead past a superpipe that’s open to the public, and there are five terrain parks.

Cross country skiing is hugely popular in Norway

Views of the lit up ski area from downtown Oslo at night are almost as good as the other way around. The elegant gentle S curve of the Holmenkollen ski jump not far from Vinterpark stands out too, along with various castle-like lit up buildings, one of which turns out to be a restaurant, Ekeberg, in the middle of a sculpture park. It again has views over the sparkling city, which are almost (but not quite) enough to distract me from a seven-course tasting menu of beautifully presented dishes made using local ingredients.

Back in town, the free, open air Spikersuppa ice rink is buzzing as we walk past it, on a cruise around the easy to follow grid of streets that makes up the old town. I’m drawn by a massive old neon sign that could be art, but is advertising Norway’s Freia chocolate brand – when in Norway you eat Kvikk Lunsj rather than KitKat. On the list of Oslo’s culture must-dos are the Munch museum, with the world’s largest collection of the Norwegian artist’s work, and the Ibsen museum, including the local playwright’s restored home. The ski jump houses a museum of skiing, and affords the most panoramic views of the city yet – as well as of cross-country tracks disappearing into the distance, with skiers speeding gracefully along them.

I look at the icy slope in front of me with trepidation, there’s no alternative, I’m going to have to ski it. Attempting the snowplough I’ve been taught, I skitter off and try to turn, following the camber of the slope. Nothing happens except I collect more speed, then crash unceremoniously to the ground. Damn it. So much for imitating the cool elegance of the stretch-pant clad skiers before me, zooming around the corner in strong, solid, knee-down turns.

In Norway cross-country skiing is, there is no question, a cool sport. Up there with cycling in Britain for fitness, outdoor exercise and racking up a pricey wardrobe of the best kit.

I try it out on the trails – loipe – near Oslo Vinterpark, tracing a route around the downhill area through snow-drenched trees, across frozen lakes, uphill and down (not so hard if you’re safely in the cut tracks), with the occasional glimpse of downhill slopes to remind me this is not the middle of nowhere, just the outskirts. There are more than 2,600km of tracks around Oslo, and it’s so much fun – disaster on icy downhill notwithstanding. And I get to try another typical snack, brought by my expert companions, potato flatbread (lefse) wrapped with cinnamon and sugar, delicious.

At my next destination, Beitostølen, further north, the cross-country skiers are even more impressive, mixing as they do with we downhillers on “our” 150km of slopes, on the way to and from 320km of their own trails. The resort’s two downhill areas – one above Beitostølen, the other, Raudalen, 10 minutes away by free bus – best suit beginners to intermediates. And as Beitostølen is an exciting half-hour flight in a small plane plus short transfer from Oslo, it’s feasible as part of a two-centre trip.

I look at the icy slope in front of me with trepidation, there’s no alternative, I’m going to have to ski it

I’m guided around the slopes by instructor Tor, who speaks perfect English of course, and (also of course) teaches both downhill and cross country. Above the snow-covered town we cruise tree-lined slopes that are conveniently organised with easier ones in the middle, the slightly harder at the edges, the rolling terrain giving the wide groomers fun ups and downs. The trees thin out at the top of the area, so we can see far into the distance over a snowy, empty landscape that stretches to the horizon, into which cross-country skiers strike purposefully.

Over at smaller Raudalen we speed down steeper and longer runs, with closer views of the frozen Øyangen lake, more cross-country loipe surrounding it. Rather than taking to skis though, I tackle it on a half-day tour with Beito Husky Tours. First we meet and harness a team of dogs ourselves, then, in pairs, drive them on a 15km loop of the lake, leaning to control them, braking on the sled to slow down as we bump over ridges in the ice and wind through trees before striking out across the lake. The experience ends with a hot blackcurrant tasting tea served by our knowledgeable trainer Elin Gotteberg in a tepee back at the dog ranch.

Probably the most out there Norwegian treat I try is rakfisk, at the expansive dinner buffet in the Radisson Blu hotel at Beitostølen. A fermented trout speciality, it has something of the texture of strong cheese – very rich – but tastes fishy, perhaps with an edge of cheese. It’s good but, as Tor tells me, what I enjoyed at the buffet is only beginner rakfisk – the homemade stuff is more intense, the trick being to take it to the very edge of rotten.

The open air Spikersuppa ice rink in Oslo

At the end of our day on the slopes, there’s loud music pumping from Arnold’s bar at Beitostølen’s base, and I love having my cross-country stereotypes dashed once again by the sight of stretch-panted young skiers dancing, beer in hand, under flashing disco lights. Me, I’ve had a tour of the Beito Ysteri cheesery by owner Trond Wahlstrøm, whose signature is on every wheel, and supped some of his Beitoøl beer, based on whey and complemented by a plate of his creamy, variously herbed cheeses. But it’s good to know that even in this land of the extraordinary ski experience, there’s traditional entertainment if you want it.

Need to know

Ski Safari (skisafari.com) offers holidays to Oslo and Beitostølen. A two-centre trip, with two nights in Oslo and four in Beitostølen, with flights and transfers, including between the two resorts, costs from £989, staying half board at the Lysebu hotel in Oslo and the Radisson Blu Resort Beitøstolen. More information on Norwegian ski resorts and experiences at visitnorway.com.